Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4: Masquerade Dance Party

What Happens

Luna updates her database, reminding us that Usagi (Sailor Moon), Ami (Sailor Mercury), and Rei (Sailor Mars) are destined to find the Legendary Silver Crystal. However, the cat has grown suspicious of Mamoru Chiba, the guy in the tuxedo Usagi keeps bumping into. Meanwhile, Princess D from the Kingdom of D is visiting Tokyo to reveal her kingdom’s secret treasure. Could it be the Legendary Silver Crystal?

The Sailors and Luna aren’t the only ones working on the theory that Princess D could be carrying an important item. It turns out Jadeite survived his fight from last week, but the three other kings of the Dark Kingdom give him a heavy razzing. Nephrite seems particularly prickly about the situation, and takes on this week’s mission.

Usagi’s father, who works at a newspaper, gets to go to the embassy party where Princess D will show off the treasure. Usagi wants to go, but dad says no. Instead, Usagi uses her henshin pen to transform into a princess and sneak in. Rei and Ami also get disguised and the three young women crash without a problem. Once inside, Usagi is atwitter with the glamour and the possibility of dancing with a handsome masked stranger. Lo and behold, Mamoru (or Tuxedo Kamen—it could be either guise) asks Usagi to dance. Usagi’s transfixed, but Luna is not having it and chases the man away.

Meanwhile, Rei is keeping her eye on Princess D. She catches the corner of the eye of the princess’ attendant and gets a bad feeling. Rei and Ami transform and break into the room where the princess waits with the treasure. The attendant removes her disguise to reveal Nephrite, who then transforms the princess into a monster. Monster D runs out of the room with the treasure chest. Usagi, who is out on the terrace, tries to stop the monster, but gets pushed off a balcony. Tuxedo Kamen rescues her, and they use a parasol created by the henshin pen to float down to safety. Usagi transforms to fight the monster. However, her tiara was lost in her battle with Jadeite, but a new one capable of reflecting moonlight appears. Sailor Moon uses her new power to cleanse the princess and return her to normal. Nephrite and the other kings introduce themselves, with Kunzite and Zoisite officially named. They return to the Dark Kingdom to plot again.

With the enemies gone, it’s time for the treasure revelation. Sorry, your Legendary Silver Crystal is in another castle. As the ceremony continues, Usagi naps on a bench. Tuxedo Kamen swoops in for smooches. Luna intercepts and demands his story. He too is seeking the Legendary Silver Crystal, but he doesn’t know why or if they are enemies.

The episode ends with a brown-haired girl in a brown school uniform running through the rain. She looks back as lightning strikes. A storm is coming…

How Did This Match the Original Sailor Moon?

The beats of this story match up with Japanese 22 / English 18, though some of the major story elements are quite different. For starters, Jadeite is still in the game and the Sailors now know the Four Kings. There are some interesting shorthand elements mixed in, such as Sailor Moon’s increasing popularity1. Despite all of the new information provided in this episode, this felt like filler. Most of the first act recapped what happened in the previous three episodes, which seems unnecessary when we are six weeks into this series being available.

It will be three weeks until the next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal2, but that will give you plenty of time ti get caught up on the original series. Since we will meet the next Sailor Soldier in the next episode, you can watch up to Japanese 24 / English 20 without advancing past the new version.

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Mike has been writing about TV online since 2008, when he started the blog WTF Little House on the Prairie? The blog was a project to practice writing about television analytically prior to getting an MA in Television-Radio-Film from Syracuse University, or as he likes to call it “TV Camp.” After a lengthy stint at TVLatest, Mike wanted to launch a site that brought in classic TV, diamonds in the rough, and the shows everybody watches. E-mail: mike@whatelseison.tv